Chair to floor skills

Thursday 20th August
Stuart has moved rooms again and now has a lot more space around him, at the moment there are only 2 of them in the 4 bed ward. It is great because he doesn't have to put his chair away at night. Can leave it beside the bed, gives him a lot of independence as it means he can get up whenever he wants and go to the bathroom etc without having to get the staff to get his chair. He is really enjoying the stand up chair and finds it particularly useful in the bathroom for self catheterization, easier standing up.
I arrived at 10 this morning, have been back in Wagga Wagga for 2 weeks. The nurses all welcomed me back, a big hello and how are things, how was work etc. Tis nice.
Had a visit from Tom, one of Dad's workmates and he came around to physio with us. Stuart started the session with some upper body work on the weights. He then showed Tom and I his new chair to floor and back skills. We were both impressed with his upper body strength. He was using his left leg a little to position his right when doing the transfer. He finished the session as usual with some stretching on the plinth. Quite likes being able to get up on his hands and Knees, which he can do much easier now.





We then had a quick lunch break before heading around to OT meet up with Alanna and Gerry thr Rep who was going to do the script for Stuart's commode/shower chair. The chair is custom made, the right height, foot rest length, seat length and size of the hole in the seat. Will take a few weeks to come though. Gerry will also look at a gel pad that we can use occasionally for overnight trips, will fit on a regular toilet seat.
Stuart , Tristan and I then got our coffees from "Gloria" and went outside for some sun and a bit of plane spotting. Tris was in the green Quickie and Stuart in the Levo (stand up chair) Tristan was having a go in the chair, to get a taste of what it is like for Stuart, a view from a new height. he was certainly a lot slower going downhill and did not manage any wheelstands.

Photos from Thursday will be posted tomorrow when I get back to Wagga